The European Commission has opened three investigations to examine whether tax authorities have made appropriate decisions about corporate tax paid by Apple in Ireland, Starbucks in the Netherlands and Fiat Finance and Trade in Luxembourg.

It’s launched the investigation following media reports that suggest that some companies have received significant tax reductions through ‘tax rulings’ issued by national tax authorities.

This week's podcast begins with Ofcom's plans to cut the wholesale cost of inter-network mobile phone calls. But what benefit will consumers see?

Iain, James and Mark then move on to discuss luxury smartphones, a new handset on the high street, mobile broadband for aircraft passengers, government monitoring, the growth of smartphones - and 4G-equipped donkeys.

Vodafone has published its first Law Enforcement Disclosure report, which explains how the company responds to official requests for assistance in 29 countries.

Not only is it Vodafone’s first such report, it’s also thought to be the first of its kind published anywhere in the world.

UK telecoms regulator Ofcom has published proposals that would see the wholesale cost of connecting mobile phone calls dropping to less than 0.5p per minute within three years.

Termination rates have fallen by 20p per minute within the past 20 years and are currently about 0.8p per minute.

The European Commission has approved the proposed acquisition of Telefónica’s O2 Ireland business by Hutchison 3G, which operates the Three network.

However, Hutchison has been required to make commitments that’ll see it helping some competitors.